STAGE TO SCREENS: Fierstein on A Catered Affair, Fuller and Dale of TV's "Pushing Daisies"
By Michael Buckley
27 Aug 2007
Starting Oct. 3, on ABC (Wednesdays, 8 PM ET), "Pushing Daisies" revolves around Ned (Lee Pace), who has the power to bring the deceased back to life. Once he does, however, he can never touch them again or it will prove permanently fatal. When his childhood sweetheart, Chuck (Anna Friel), is killed, Ned restores her to life — but thereafter can never have any physical contact with her.
An unusually good cast includes Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook, who will compete with Chuck for Ned's attentions. Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene play Chuck's eccentric aunts, formerly 'mermaids' in their own swimming act. (In the pilot, Kurtz has a wonderful line about being able to hold her breath for a long time.) Chi McBride is PI Emerson Cod, and the superb Jim Dale narrates.
Early, extremely favorable reviews of "Pushing Daisies" concur with TV Guide's Matt Roush rave: "There's nothing on TV or elsewhere...that remotely looks, sounds or magically enthralls the way 'Pushing Daisies' does."
Mentioning to Bryan Fuller, the creator (head writer-executive producer) of "Pushing Daisies," that I also interviewed Harvey Fierstein for this column, Fuller says, "Somebody told me that he was a big fan of 'Dead Like Me.' I'm a big fan of his. It would be great to get him on 'Pushing Daisies.'" Paging Harvey!
Fuller's past creations include "Dead Like Me" (2003) and "Wonderfalls" (2004). Originally, the new series "was going to be a spin-off of 'Dead Like Me.' Then I left, halfway through the first season, to do 'Wonderfalls,' which only lasted four episodes." However, that series starred the "Daisies" male lead, Lee Pace, for whom Fuller wrote the part of Ned. "His agents declined, but his manager went around them, and told [Pace] that he should really read the [pilot] script."
Adam Brody ("The O.C.") was next offered the part of Ned. "He was not looking to do another series immediately," relates Fuller, "and he was very gracious. Then Lee's manager got involved — thank God!"
Death has fascinated Fuller since childhood, when he attended a number of wakes for relatives in his home state of Washington. "I'm the youngest of five, and nobody in my family talked about movies or television. I would go to wakes and talk to cousins who were much more enthusiastic about popular culture. I didn't understand the implications of death. From my perception, it was just a celebration."
His other fascination was "Star Trek." During a time when the series had an open-script policy, Fuller submitted a spec script. That led to selling two stories, and getting a script assignment. In turn, he became a staff writer (for "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager") and worked his way up to producer.
Feeling lucky to get Jim Dale to narrate "Pushing Daisies," Fuller says, "One of the things we would like to do in the future — if this show is a success — is to actually see Jim Dale on the show, and reveal who's telling the story."
Plans also include a musical episode "for the back nine [episodes]. There's a song in the first episode after the pilot. It's very much in the tone of the show. A character's feeling sad and sings. It's heightened reality."
One scene in the pilot has 4-foot-11-inch Kristin Chenoweth standing on a coffee table to be on eye level with 6-foot-4-inch Lee Pace. Though not seen much in the pilot, Chenoweth's character quickly becomes more involved in the stories.
Paul Reubens has joined the series as a recurring cast member: "He plays Alfredo Aldarisio, a customer at the Pie Hole [Ned's dessert shop] who's a traveling salesman of anti-depressants."
Currently, Fuller oversees all the writing. As the characters and stories take shape, writers will work more on their own. Fuller calls Pete Ocho and Rina Mimoun, his "right and left hands." Other writers ("It's too much for one person; we have a great team") include Jack Monaco, Kath Lingenfelter, [husband and wife] Chad and Dera Creasey, Abby Gewanter, Lisa Joy, and Scott Nimerfro.
Barry Sonnenfeld directed the pilot and following episode. "We're working on a way we can get him back. He was a creative partner on the look and attitude of the series. I want to direct and he took me under his wing, like a mentor. It's a great experience to work with a director of that caliber."
Shooting the pilot took 16 days. The production schedule is now 11 days, but that's scheduled to be reduced to eight, "which is difficult," he says. "'Pushing Daisies' is very controlled, with very deliberate camera movements and framing. We were on the set yesterday from 1 PM to 4 AM."
Ned's special power is never explained, just noted in a sentence. "Whenever you explain things too much, we take a lot of the awe away."
States Bryan Fuller, "The response from the critical community has been fantastic. It helps to have the support. I tend to think ahead. I've already got the emotional arc for the first two seasons, and a kicker for the third season. Of course, all that goes away if you're not around to do it. Hopefully, this show will go on and allow me to execute some of those plans."
Let's hope that, for "Daisies," everything's coming up roses.
***
Colorful and enthusiastic, the "Pushing Daisies" narration by multi-talented Jim Dale, a five-time Tony nominee who took home the prize for Barnum in 1980, gives the show an immediate appeal. The narration, incorporating refreshing, above-average wording, is complemented by the vibrant tones of the "Harry Potter" books-on-tape voice.
Explains Dale, "It came about very simply, with an inquiry as to my availability, from ABC to my agent. We didn't know what it was then, but as soon as I read the script, I realized it was very special and immediately said yes.
"Barry Sonnenfeld directed. Notice the number of times he gets people sitting, facing the camera and talking 'out front.'" Does Dale's narration require direction? "I've only worked once with Barry. That was for a promo, and he was very helpful.
"They tell me, 'We only have three seconds to do this' — and I hadn't been aware of that — or 'This can be stretched, so take your time with it.' First of all, they ask me to read it through. They may say, 'Can you push that a little more in the second line?' or ‘Can you pull back a bit on the fourth line?' Three or four people in Los Angeles listen to it, and then we play with it until they agree.
"My experience is why they hired me. They wanted somebody who was an actor-narrator, which is different than an ordinary narrator. He puts himself into the narration; he knows a little more about the story than you do. The audience doesn't know what's going to happen, but the narrator certainly does. He explains it as it goes along, prepares you for surprises, gets you ready for a laugh."
Pleased with the series, Dale praises "the dialogue and color, the set design and computerized imagery — which are fantastic! The people are brilliant! Lee Pace is a young Cary Grant. I didn't realize that Anna Friel, the leading lady, was British until I heard her being interviewed.
"Swoosie Kurtz and Kristin Chenoweth are the only ones I've met. [Chenoweth] was in The Apple Tree [last season on Broadway]. In [the "Passionella" sequence], she proved to be one of the finest clowns I've ever seen. Utterly, utterly brilliant! You're born with a comedic talent like hers." Adds Dale, "It must have been a lovely birth."
Born in Rothwell, Northants, England, Dale's the father of four (including singer Toby Dale and aerial cameraman Adam Dale) by his first marriage.
Since 1980, he's been wed to the former Julie Schafler. "She sells the most wonderful things in art-to-wear. She's run the 'Julie Artisans' Gallery' on Madison Avenue and 65th Street for 36 years. I went in one day, looked around for the most wonderful thing — and came out with the owner."
During a career that spans more than 50 years, Dale's been a Music Hall comic (at 17), a pop singer, a member of the National Theatre (at Laurence Olivier's invitation), a movie actor (whose many credits include nine films in the popular "Carry On" series), and a 1966 Oscar nominee (for writing the lyrics to the title song of "Georgy Girl").
Additionally, he's a nine-time recipient of the Audie Award for his books-on-tape recordings ("There's still life in the old voice"), a four-time Grammy nominee, a six-time Drama Desk nominee (winning four times), and a four-time Outer Critics Circle winner (each time he's been nominated). Dale's been cited twice in the Guinness Book of World Records, and has received a M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
Having recorded hundreds of voices for the seven "Harry Potter" books, Dale's "thrilled to bits that, at my age, there are millions of kids who have lived with my voice for years. I go out to do a reading and it's like a bloody rock concert. [Laughs] Not just kids, but grown-ups as well."
Upcoming for Dale is a Broadway musical, Busker Alley, in which he did a one-night benefit performance in late 2006. It's based on the 1938 film, "St. Martin's Lane," co-starring Charles Laughton and Vivien Leigh. The Sherman brothers wrote the score, and the book is by AJ Carothers (1933-2007).
Tommy Tune starred in a 1994 tour, which did not reach Broadway due to Tune injuring his foot. "We're editing and changing it," claims Dale. "Tony Walton will be directing again. It's not the actors, producers, or anyone connected to a show [who cause delays]. It's the bloody lawyers. They're the ones who stretch things out, because they get paid by the hour."
Dale claims the "Daisies" premise "is strange and very funny — how two people not allowed to touch get to know each other, by [in future episodes] kissing through cling wrap and dancing in beekeepers' outfits."
Admits Jim Dale, "The great thing about being narrator of a hopefully successful television series is not having to go to Los Angeles and work my butt off all day long four weeks in a trot. I just sit at home until an episode is shot and edited. They send me the script, and I record it in half-a-day here in New York City. That's absolutely wonderful!"
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